In this edition of Tech Trends in Insurance, WRIN.tv speaks with Jonathan Silverman, Director of Insurance Industry Solutions at Microsoft. He says Microsoft is looking for ways to enable technologies in the insurance industry, such as risk and analytics, dev and test, productivity, and cloud migration. Mr. Silverman says insurance customers are starting to look at data differently, including structured …

The 2017 Hurricane Season brought over $100 billion in insured losses. According to John Kapitan, an SVP at RMS, “the (insurance) industry has coped well.” There are numerous improvements in the industry since the storms of 2004/2005. The industry is better capitalized, (over $600 billion). From a risk management perspective, Mr. Kapitan says few insurers or reinsurers were surprised by …

Phil Reynolds, CEO and Co-Founder of BriteCore, outlines the disruptive nature of insurtech companies, and what traditional companies are doing to access new and emerging technology services. Mr. Reynolds describes an online experience he had with one insurtech company that asked for his home address and was able to assemble county records, a visual flyover, the home’s square footage and …

Jerry Theodorou, a Vice President of Insurance Research at Conning, previews a strategic study that looks at Mutual property-casualty insurance companies. According to Mr. Theodorou, there is an elevated degree of concern in five areas: technology, expense ratios, the war for talent, demographic and sociodemographic changes, and the future for personal auto. Conning is finding Mutuals are reacting proactively with …

In this edition of WRIN.tv’s Tech Trends in Insurance, The Institutes President and CEO Peter Miller describes the way Blockchain will change the business of insurance in the future. “It is the plumbing.” Blockchain has the potential to reduce costs, decrease transaction time, improve customer service, enable new product development and affect better financial results – the impact is significant …

Ron Davis, Chairman of the Spencer Educational Foundation and EVP/Head of Customer Management at Zurich, explains why the insurance industry needs to attract and encourage young talent. He says there is a large number of people leaving the industry right now, and that is causing a gap…a need for people with the right skillset and attitudes. He notes that the …

“We have disruption all over… (and) the insurance industry deals with it.” That, according to Sean Kevelighan, President and CEO of the Insurance Information Institute (III), who spoke at the recent AAIS Main event in Florida. He notes that the insurance industry is accustomed to dealing with natural and man-made catastrophes, even technology, which a major disruptor right now. Mr. …

Healthcare fraud in the auto insurance industry is a focus of the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). Roger Morris, Chief Communications Officer of the NICB, discusses schemes across the country that support fraud against the insurance industry, and an Aggregated Medical Data Base and Medical Fraud Task Forces set up by the NICB to combat major medical fraud. Mr. Morris …

In part one of a two-part Tech Trends in Insurance report, WRIN.tv speaks with Bill Pieroni, President & CEO of ACORD, about the disruptive effect data and technology has had on the insurance industry. He notes that more recently, there are a number of issues that are increasing the importance of technology and data usage today. Mr. Pieroni says forces …

Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) offer good value to institutional investors in today’s environment. According to Marcus McGregor, Head of Master Limited Partnership Strategy at Conning, MLPs compare favorably to other asset classes, such as investment-grade corporates, utilities and REITs, from a valuation perspective. Mr. McGregor points out that MLPs “screen as cheap” relative to other asset classes in the 3-year …

“For anyone that doesn’t think politics plays into the business of insurance, they’re wrong.” With the hotly contested U.S. Presidential election looming, WRIN.tv asked several attendees at the recent PCI Annual Meeting about how the outcome could affect the property casualty industry. Here with several points of view are Robert Gordon, SVP of PCI Policy Development and Research, Fred Karlinsky, …

 THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS OF ENGINEERING INSURERS  PRESS RELEASE  Cyber risk; silent threat underestimated by engineering insurance Doha, Qatar – 4 October 2016 – The Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing have a direct influence on the engineering insurance risk landscape but are being underestimated by underwriters according to The International Association of Engineering Insurers (IMIA). A specialist working group …

Karen Furtado, a Partner at Strategy Meets Action, discusses “New Norms” and “Game Changers,” and how insurers can take advantage of emerging technologies. The “New Norms” happening in insurance are all around the tide of change.  Ms. Furtado looks at how the pace of change is affecting insurers and the risks they cover, their internal operations, new technologies and tools. She …

Low interest rates, pressure on pricing, M&A activity, and disruptive technology are all shaping the outlook for the risk and(re)insurance industry for 2016. Here, WRIN.tv summarizes several of the recent forecasts published by industry analysts and thought leaders. Swiss Re sees economic momentum supporting growth in the insurance sector, even with headwinds like slower growth in China, lower commodity prices …

In this edition of ACORD Tech Talk, host Johnell Johnson speaks with Bolt Solutions CEO Eric Gewirtzman discusses the launch of Google Compare and how comparison shopping will affect the insurance industry. “Bolt Google Connect” enables insurers to quickly and easily participate in Google Compare, a comparison-shopping site that lets consumers compare rates from different insurance providers. Mr. Gewirtzman describes one …

In this edition of ACORD Tech Talk, host Johnell Johnson welcomes back the Managing Editor of Agency Nation, Ryan Hanley to discuss how social media can support the four stages of insurance sales. According to Mr. Hanley, traditional selling included interrupting the life of “unconnected generation consumer” with a commercial ad or phone call.  But efforts like cold calling do not …

Bryon Ehrhart, CEO of the Americas at Aon Benfield, speaks with WRIN.tv about the issues affecting alternative capital in the reinsurance market during the recent S&P Insurance Conference. He says the growth in alternative capital has been driven by clients seeking to diversify their sources of catastrophe risk capital and met with investors looking to diversify their investment return. There …

WRIN.tv spoke with Hannover Re Chairman and CEO Ulrich Wallin at the S&P Insurance Conference about recent developments in insurance linked security (ILS) market, alternative capital, and Hannover Re strategy for continued growth. Hannover Re recently participated in two ILS transactions including the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association (MPIUA) and Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA). Mr. Wallin says Hannover Re is …

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published its Base Erosion Profit Sharing (BEPS) action plan in July 2013 to address perceived flaws in international tax rules. The Plan was endorsed by G20 with implementation to be completed by the end of 2015.   WRIN.tv spoke with John O’Leary, a Tax Partner in Financial Services at PwC, to gain some …

At the European Insurance Forum in Dublin, WRIN.tv spoke with Harry Goddard, Head of Technology at Deloitte, about the pace of change impacting the insurance industry. He says the pace of change is quickening, because of the ‘consumerization’ of data and technology. Consumers are becoming more sophisticated in how they engage with companies and service providers. Mr. Goddard notes three …